Massive whale at Delap's Cove

By Michael Hilborn

Hikers out for a Sunday guided hike at Delap's Cove were surprised and shocked to find the remains of an enormous whale beached on the rocks.

Hike organizer Debra Ryan of Hike Nova Scotia headed a troop of 21 people through the woods and down to the sea. The bay was just after low tide in the afternoon and revealed the whale well out of water.

The whale, whose kind is unknown at this time, had white flippers and partially white flukes. It was situated upside down and had a large collection of barnacles under its jaw.

How much it weighed was anyone's guess but it appeared to measure about 30 feet in length. The fact that it was onshore with its belly up led one hiker to assume it had died at sea and the tide carried it to shore. Its outward appearance at the time indicated that it had not been dead for too long.

Ryan, also Annapolis County recreation director, said she had crews doing work in the area on Friday and the whale wasn't there at that time so it must have washed up Saturday or early Sunday.

John Percy of the Annapolis Field Naturalists speculated that it might be a humpback whale and he will attempt to confirm this with a call to DFO personnel.

Percy later contacted Dr. Moira Brown, Senior Scientist, Right Whale Research at the New England Aquarium in Boston. She forwarded photos to humpback researchers.

The fear at this point is that a particularly high tide will pull the whale back out and stymie a true determination.



MICHAEL HILBORN is from Port George.